DEAR DR. GOTT: My doctor never returns my telephone calls. I don't contact him needlessly, yet there are times when I feel I need some direction about medication he has prescribed or need to discuss the side effects I experience. What's with his silence?

DEAR READER: I don't know. I recommend you try a different approach the next time you need to touch base. Keep your request brief, but outline the issue to his or her receptionist, office manager or other person at the front desk. Then, specifically ask when you can expect a return call. This will allow you to carry on with your day and will give him some flexibility in what I am sure is a hectic schedule. His time is valuable, but so is yours. Today, many doctors also use e-mail as a means of communicating with patients. 

Personally speaking, when my practice was in full swing, I awoke by 6:15 a.m. and began my day at 7:30 a.m. at a local private school's infirmary. I saw a number of students and faculty before arriving at my office an hour and a half later. Two hours later, I left the office for our local hospital, where I made rounds, then visited several nursing homes to see my patients who had been admitted. I then returned to the infirmary for an hour before going to my office to see afternoon patients. During the late fall, when flu shots were given, patients lined up and hovered around the office the way 747s do over an airport. The pile of charts on my desk and the return-call lists at the end of each day were so high I couldn't see over them. When finished, I often went back to the infirmary again, then returned home and remained on call throughout the night until I repeated the pattern the next day. Sandwiched in between were calls to patients such as you, discussions with specialists involved in my patients' care, dictation for those scheduled to undergo surgery and calls to my local pharmacy for medications prescribed. During football season, I was present on the sidelines at every home game in case a player were injured. It was a way of life that continued for 40 years. Please understand I am not complaining. Rather, I thrived on the schedule and loved every minute of it -- well, almost every minute.

My local hospital has hired a hospitalist who has taken the pressure off overworked docs. His presence has allowed physicians to go out to dinner for an hour or two, or to attend a school function of a child. And he is a backup for those crazy on-call schedules we all endure. 

I know an acquaintance who recently visited a urologist. He was greeted by a secretary who said she tried to call him to say the doctor was running late. When my friend returned home there was, indeed, a call on his answering machine. It implied there was an "emergency" at the office and they wished to cancel until another day. Whoops! Because he appeared in the office, he knew there was no emergency, just overbooking that can and does happen. The secretary felt safe in assuming he would get the message before appearing in the office. Ah, well. 

Doctors are human. I really believe they are still in practice, as I was, because they have a continuing dedication to help the sick and needy. They just need a few more hours in each day and a few more days in each week. Then, perhaps, patients can expect to have their telephone calls returned in a timely manner. 

Dr. Peter Gott is a retired physician and the author of the book "Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Diet," available at most chain and independent bookstores, and the recently published "Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Cookbook."

If readers would like to contact Dr. Gott, they may write him through your newspaper or send their mail directly to Dr. Gott c/o United Media, 200 Madison Ave., 4th fl., New York, NY 10016. However, if readers want to request a newsletter, they should write to the Ohio address.

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